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Chip labour: Robots replace waiters in China restaurant![]() Shanghai (AFP) Aug 5, 2018 The little robotic waiter wheels up to the table, raises its glass lid to reveal a steaming plate of local Shanghai-style crayfish and announces in low, mechanical tones, "Enjoy your meal." The futuristic restaurant concept is the latest initiative in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba's push to modernise service and retail in a country where robotics and artificial intelligence are increasingly being integrated into commerce. Raising efficiency and lowering labour costs are the objectives at Alib ... read more |
Students can now build their own rover modelPasadena CA (JPL) Aug 02, 2018 Have you ever wondered what it takes to build a machine like NASA's Curiosity rover, part of the Mars Science Laboratory project? Now students, hobbyists and enthusiasts can get a taste of what it i ... more
A kernel of promise in popcorn-powered robotsIthaca NY (SPX) Aug 07, 2018 Cornell University researchers have discovered how to power simple robots with a novel substance that, when heated, can expand more than 10 times in size, change its viscosity by a factor of 10 and ... more
Research identifies key weakness in modern computer vision systemsProvidence RI (SPX) Aug 03, 2018 Computer vision algorithms have come a long way in the past decade. They've been shown to be as good or better than people at tasks like categorizing dog or cat breeds, and they have the remarkable ... more
Optical fibers that can feel the materials around themLausanne, Switzerland (SPX) Aug 02, 2018 In recent years optical fibers have served as sensors to detect changes in temperature, like a thermometer, and pressure, like an artificial nerve. This technique is particularly useful in structure ... more |
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US Army Looking Away From Counter-Insurgency Warfare to High-Tech Future BattlesWashington DC (Sputnik) Jul 24, 2018 On Saturday, US Army Secretary Mark Esper said that the military branch's renewed emphasis on technology - like killer robots, laser weapons and hypersonic missiles - is directly linked to competiti ... more
Russia Mulls Sending Two of Its FEDOR Humanoid Robots Into Space Next YearMoscow (Sputnik) Jul 23, 2018 The ambitious FEDOR project has received a number of upgrades in recent years, with plans to make the robots self-learning and even to use them to create colonies on the moon and fly solo space miss ... more
Microbots capable of sensing environs could explore intestines, pipelinesWashington (UPI) Jul 23, 2018 Engineers at MIT have designed tiny, new robots capable of sensing their surroundings. The microbots, roughly the size of a human egg cell, could be used to explore hard-to-reach passageways, like the human intestines or a gas pipeline. ... more
New creepy, crawly search and rescue robot developed at Ben-GurionNew York NY (SPX) Jul 23, 2018 A new highly maneuverable search and rescue robot that can creep, crawl and climb over rough terrain and through tight spaces has been developed by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) researche ... more
Developing Microrobotics for Disaster Recovery and High-Risk EnvironmentsWashington DC (SPX) Jul 19, 2018 Imagine a natural disaster scenario, such as an earthquake, that inflicts widespread damage to buildings and structures, critical utilities and infrastructure, and threatens human safety. Having the ... more |
![]() Emotional robot lets you feel how it's 'feeling'
In China, yellow robots deliver snacks to your homeBeijing (AFP) July 18, 2018 Along a quiet residential street on the outer edges of Beijing, a yellow and black cube about the size of a small washing machine trundles leisurely to its destination. ... more |
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Maxar Technologies' MDA Announces Acquisition of Neptec Design GroupBrampton, Canada (SPX) Jul 18, 2018 MDA reports it has acquired Neptec Design Group Ltd. (Neptec), the leading electro-optical and electro-mechanical systems and high-performance intelligent Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) company ... more
Training artificial intelligence with artificial X-raysToronto, Canada (SPX) Jul 17, 2018 Artificial intelligence (AI) holds real potential for improving both the speed and accuracy of medical diagnostics. But before clinicians can harness the power of AI to identify conditions in images ... more
Reducing the Data Demands of Smart MachinesWashington DC (SPX) Jul 13, 2018 Machine learning (ML) systems today learn by example, ingesting tons of data that has been individually labeled by human analysts to generate a desired output. As these systems have progressed, deep ... more
Dutch city to unveil world's first 3D-printed housing complexThe Hague (AFP) July 11, 2018 The southern Dutch city of Eindhoven plans to unveil the world's first 3D-printed housing complex next year, which its inventors believe could revolutionise the building industry by speeding up and customising construction. ... more
Illinois' crop-counting robot earns top recognition at leading robotics conferenceUrbana IL (SPX) Jul 06, 2018 Today's crop breeders are trying to boost yields while also preparing crops to withstand severe weather and changing climates. To succeed, they must locate genes for high-yielding, hardy traits in c ... more |
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An insect-inspired drone deforms upon impact Lausanne, Switzerland (SPX) Jul 26, 2018
In recent years, robotics experts have taken a page from the traditional Japanese practice of origami and come up with light and flexible - and highly innovative - robots and drones. Two types of origami-inspired structures have emerged: rigid structures that have a certain weight-bearing capacity but that break if that capacity is exceeded, and flexible yet resilient structures that cannot carr ... more |
Cars and Planes Are Safer Thanks to This Tool Developed for Shuttle Greenbelt MD (SPX) Aug 06, 2018
On Feb. 1, 2003, just minutes before Space Shuttle Columbia was due to touch down, the spacecraft suffered a catastrophic failure - all because of a piece of foam that had broke off and knocked into the leading edge of the wing during launch 17 days earlier.
Getting to that answer - and ensuring that it couldn't happen again-took months of investigation and the creation of new tools that d ... more |
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China 'waterfall' skyscraper hit by torrent of ridicule Beijing (AFP) July 27, 2018
A skyscraper in southwest China that boasts what its owner calls the world's largest man-made waterfall has become the latest example of over-the-top architecture to draw national ridicule.
The tower in the city of Guiyang was built with a spectacular 108-metre (350-feet) cascade tumbling down its face - but cash flow could prove a problem for the ostentatious design.
Although the Liebi ... more |
Extreme makeover: Fukushima nuclear plant tries image overhaul Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, Japan (AFP) Aug 3, 2018
Call it an extreme makeover: In Japan's Fukushima, officials are attempting what might seem impossible, an image overhaul at the site of the worst nuclear meltdown in decades.
At the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, there's a flashy new administrative building, debris has been moved and covered, and officials tout the "light" radioactive security measures now possible.
"You see people mo ... more |
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Head of Syrian regime research centre killed: monitor Beirut (AFP) Aug 5, 2018
The head of a Syrian government research centre fabricating weapons has been killed in an explosion targeting his car, a Britain-based monitor said Sunday.
The pro-regime Al-Watan newspaper confirmed the killing.
General Aziz Asbar was killed late Saturday along with his driver in the central province of Hama, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said.
Asbar headed the res ... more |
Electricity crisis leaves Iraqis gasping for cool air Baghdad (AFP) Aug 1, 2018
As the stultifying summer heat sends Iraqis in search of cool spots, restaurateur Ali Hussein provides sanctuary - even though it means hooking up to an expensive generator.
"The clients must be comfortable when they eat," said Hussein, who stakes his reputation on ensuring customers are constantly blasted by air conditioning.
Outside, temperatures at this time of year can reach 50 degr ... more |
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Workshop advances plans for coping with disruptions on ITER Plainsboro NJ (SPX) Aug 06, 2018
The sixth Annual Theory and Simulation of Disruptions Workshop at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) made substantial progress toward planning a system for mitigating disruptions on ITER, the international experiment under construction in France to demonstrate the feasibility of fusion power.
Disruptions, the sudden loss of heat in plasma that ... more |
Growing US unease with China's new deep space facility in Argentina Moscow (Sputnik) Aug 01, 2018 |
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Blend of novices, veterans to fly on first private US spaceships Tampa (AFP) Aug 4, 2018
NASA on Friday named the first nine astronauts who will fly to space on Boeing and SpaceX vehicles in 2019 - a mix of novices and veterans who are tasked with restoring America's ability to send humans into orbit.
These pioneering flights to the International Space Station aboard commercially built crew capsules will be the first leaving US soil to put people into orbit since the iconic spa ... more |
Sorry Elon Musk, but it's now clear that colonising Mars is unlikely London, UK (The Conversation) Aug 06, 2018
Space X and Tesla founder Elon Musk has a vision for colonising Mars, based on a big rocket, nuclear explosions and an infrastructure to transport millions of people there. This was seen as highly ambitious but technically challenging in several ways. Planetary protection rules and the difficulties of terraforming (making the planet hospitable by, for example, warming it up) and dealing with the ... more |
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Aerojet Rocketdyne boosters complete simulated air-launch tests Huntsville AL (SPX) Aug 07, 2018
Aerojet Rocketdyne's advanced tactical booster program recently completed two successful hot-fire tests of a motor that had been conditioned to mimic extreme cold- and hot-soak conditions for air-launch application. The tests took place at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
"Aerojet Rocketdyne has been the leading supplier of missile technolog ... more |
Chile enacts historic ban on plastic bags Santiago (AFP) Aug 3, 2018
Chile made history on Friday when it became the first country in South America to ban the commercial use of plastic bags.
"I want to share with you the joy that as of today we're enacting the law," said President Sebastian Pinera at a public ceremony in the centre of Santiago, after which he handed out cloth bags to passers-by.
Large businesses have six months to phase out the use of pla ... more |
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Tesla says on track for profit despite bigger 2Q loss San Francisco (AFP) Aug 2, 2018 Tesla shares revved on Wednesday on news the electric car maker is on the road to being profitable this year despite losing more money than analysts expected in the recently ended quarter.
Tesla shares raced up more than 9 percent to $328.99 in after-market trades that followed release of earnings figures and a call in which chief executive Elon Musk patiently fielded questions and expressed ... more |
Nanotube 'rebar' makes graphene twice as tough Houston TX (SPX) Aug 06, 2018
Rice University researchers have found that fracture-resistant "rebar graphene" is more than twice as tough as pristine graphene.
Graphene is a one-atom-thick sheet of carbon. On the two-dimensional scale, the material is stronger than steel, but because graphene is so thin, it is still subject to ripping and tearing.
Rebar graphene is the nanoscale analog of rebar (reinforcement bar ... more |
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Cars and Planes Are Safer Thanks to This Tool Developed for Shuttle Greenbelt MD (SPX) Aug 06, 2018
On Feb. 1, 2003, just minutes before Space Shuttle Columbia was due to touch down, the spacecraft suffered a catastrophic failure - all because of a piece of foam that had broke off and knocked into the leading edge of the wing during launch 17 days earlier.
Getting to that answer - and ensuring that it couldn't happen again-took months of investigation and the creation of new tools that d ... more |
Archeological plant remains point to southwest Amazonia as crop domestication center Washington DC (SPX) Aug 07, 2018
The remains of domesticated crop plants at an archaeological site in southwest Amazonia supports the idea that this was an important region in the early history of crop cultivation, according to a study published July 25, 2018 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Jennifer Watling from the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil and colleagues.
Genetic a ... more |
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